Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to order a plurality of haptic effects, the instructions causing the processor to: receive a signal associated with the plurality of haptic effects, each haptic effect from the plurality of haptic effects being associated with a time slot from a plurality of time slots; associate each haptic effect from the plurality of haptic effects with an effect slot from a plurality of effect slots at least partially based on the time slot associated with that haptic effect; send an output signal for each effect slot from the plurality of effect slots, when the associated haptic effect is scheduled for its time slot; assign a haptic-effect priority based on the time remaining for an active haptic effect; and output or remove one of the plurality of haptic effects at least partially based on the haptic-effect priority.
2. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein each time slot from the plurality of time slots defines a time during which each associated haptic effect is output.
3. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 , the instructions further causing the processor to define a timeline for the plurality of time slots, the plurality of haptic effects being output at least partially based on the defined timeline.
4. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 , the instructions further causing the processor to: receive a plurality of client signals; and send the output signal for each effect slot from the plurality of effect slots at least partially based on a client signal from the plurality of client signals.
5. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 , the instructions further causing the processor to control at least one of: an intensity, a periodicity, a ramp-up time, and a ramp-down time for each haptic effect from the plurality of haptic effects.
6. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 , the instructions further causing the processor to control at least one of: creating a haptic effect, deleting a haptic effect, starting a haptic effect, stopping a haptic effect, and modifying a haptic effect for each haptic effect from the plurality of haptic effects.
7. A computer implemented method for ordering a plurality of haptic effects, the method comprising: receiving a signal associated with the plurality of haptic effects, each haptic effect from the plurality of haptic effects being associated with a time slot from a plurality of time slots; associating each haptic effect from the plurality of haptic effects with an effect slot from a plurality of effect slots at least partially based on the time slot associated with that haptic effect; sending an output signal for each effect slot from the plurality of effect slots, when the associated haptic effect is scheduled for its time slot; assigning a haptic-effect priority based on the time remaining for an active haptic effect; and outputting or removing one of the plurality of haptic effects at least partially based on the haptic-effect priority.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein each time slot from the plurality of time slots defines a time during which each associated haptic effect is output.
9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising defining a timeline for the plurality of time slots, the plurality of haptic effects being output at least partially based on the defined timeline.
10. The method of claim 7 , further comprising: receiving a plurality of client signals; and sending the output signal for each effect slot from the plurality of effect slots at least partially based on a client signal from the plurality of client signals.
11. The method of claim 7 , further comprising controlling at least one of: an intensity, a periodicity, a ramp-up time, and a ramp-down time for each haptic effect from the plurality of haptic effects.
12. The method of claim 7 , further comprising controlling at least one of: creating a haptic effect, deleting a haptic effect, starting a haptic effect, stopping a haptic effect, and modifying a haptic effect for each haptic effect from the plurality of haptic effects.
13. An apparatus that outputs haptic effects, the apparatus comprising: an interface component for receiving a signal associated with a plurality of haptic effects, each haptic effect from the plurality of haptic effects being associated with a time slot from a plurality of time slots; an ordering component for associating each haptic effect from the plurality of haptic effects with an effect slot from a plurality of effect slots at least partially based on the time slot associated with that haptic effect; an output component for sending an output signal for each effect slot from the plurality of effect slots, when the associated haptic effect is scheduled for its time slot; and an assignment component to assign a haptic-effect priority based on the time remaining for an active haptic effect; wherein the output component is configured to output or remove one of the plurality of haptic effects at least partially based on the haptic-effect priority.
14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein each time slot from the plurality of time slots defines a time during which each associated haptic effect is output.
15. The apparatus of claim 13 , further comprising defining a timeline for the plurality of time slots, the plurality of haptic effects being output at least partially based on the defined timeline.
16. The apparatus of claim 13 , further comprising at the interface component: receiving a plurality of client signals; and sending the output signal for each effect slot from the plurality of effect slots at least partially based on a client signal from the plurality of client signals.
17. The apparatus of claim 13 , further comprising controlling at least one of: an intensity, a periodicity, a ramp-up time, and a ramp-down time for each haptic effect from the plurality of haptic effects.
18. The apparatus of claim 13 , further comprising controlling at least one of: creating a haptic effect, deleting a haptic effect, starting a haptic effect, stopping a haptic effect, and modifying a haptic effect for each haptic effect from the plurality of haptic effects.
19. The apparatus of claim 13 , further comprising an assignment component to assign a haptic-effect priority to an active haptic effect.
Unknown
September 4, 2012
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